Rail-brace and tie-plate.



B. J. SAMMON.

am BRACE AND TIE PLATE.

APPLICATION EILED JUL-Y1 l9l4 5 I FEGU? '5 I Patnted Jan. 1, 1918.

WITNESQES. ,lNVENTR.

. of the invention.

invrrnn sparse critics.

BERNARD J. SAMMOII, 0F PENN TOWNSHIP, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA ASSIGNOR OF, ONE-HALF TO FRITZ UHLENHAUT, 13., 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYL- VANIA.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, BERNARD J. SAMMON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Penn township, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rail-Braces and Tie-Plates; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to a railway rail brace and tie plate, and has for its object the provision of simple and economical means by which the rail may be fastened'to the tie and at the same time braced against side thrust. A further object'is to provide means which will prevent the shearing off of the spikes by which the rail is fastened to the tie, this being accomplished by relieving the spikes in great degree from side thrust.

A further object is to provide means of this character which will positively prevent spreading and tilting of the rails.

By providing means for preventing tilting of the rails I also do away with the necessity of the usual tie rods connecting the webs of the rails. These tie rods as is well known, are usually spaced about five feet apart in the roadway andconstitute a large item of expense.

With theseand other objects in view, as will appear from the following description, the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts, preferred embodiments of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a transverse section of a railway trackshowing the manner of securing rails and tie plates to the tie. Fig. 2 is a view at right angles to Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 1, showing a modified form Fig. l is a perspective view of the tie plate and fastener illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the rail clamping and bracing members. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the tie plate shown in Fig. 2.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the tie plate 1 is of a length to extend beneath both rails 2. This tie plate is Specification of Letters Patent.

' members I RAIL-BRACE AND TIE-PLATE.

Patented Jan. 1, 191$.

Application filed July 1, 191%. Serial No. 848,441.

jacent the shoulders tare notched as at 7 to receive the track spikes 8.

In conjunction with the tie plate described, I employ combined rail clamping and bracing members such as shown in perspective view in Fig. 5, each consisting of a base 9 and an upright web 10 and a rail head engaging portion 11. The base portion 9 of this clip is inclined upwardly toward the inner or rail engaging side at an angle corresponding to the bevel or slant of the raised shoulder portion 4 of the tie plate. The upper face 12 of the rail engaging head 11 is inclined to fit beneath the rail head 13 as shown in Fig. 1. The outer end of the base 9 is beveled as at 14 to engage snugly beneath the over-standing clip portion 6 at the outer extremities of the tie plate. Also the base 9 is notched as at 15 to correspond with the notches 7 of the tie plate.

In assembling the device on the roadway, the rail bases 5 are slipped into the spaces between the inner clips 3 and the adjacent shoulders 4. The bracing and clamping member is then slipped laterally beneath the over-standing end clip 6. and is brought into alinement witht-he tie plate,thus bringing its spike notches 15 into alinement with the spike notches 7 of the tie plate. The inner end of thg base o f this clamping member will overlie the base flange 5 of the rail. The head 11 will snugly engage beneath the head 13 of the rail. The spikes S are then driven home into the tie through the clamp notches 15 and tie plate notches 7, with the offset heads of the spikes engaging the base of the clamping member over the edges of the rail base. It will be seen, therefore, that the rail is firmly held against bodily lateral movement by the clips 3 and the shoulders 4. The rail spikes simply serve to hold the clamping members in alinement with the tie plate and with the bases of the clamping beneath the end clips 6 of the tie plate. The heads of the spikes exerc se their usual function in holding the rail down to the tie. The shoulders 4 being rigid with the tie plate, serve to hold the rails spaced apart to the predetermined gage, and therefore the end clips 6 serve Furthermore, the device prevents the spreading of the rails, and also saves the se- 1 curing spikes from shearing, owing to side thrust on. curves" and the like.

This construction has a still further advantage that at least two spikes are saved in fastening the rails to each tie. In ordinary practice, the rails are spiked to the tie by one spike on the outside and two spikes on the inside to prevent tilting, making three spikes for each rail. By the use of my device, two spikes on the outside only are needed, since the rail brace in conjunction with the tie plate and its clip 3 running from rail to rail, effectively prevents tilting.

In some instances it may be desirable to have individual tie plates for each line of rails. A plate of this character is shown in Figs. 3 and 6. This plate in general is of the same form as the extremities of the tie plate 1, Figs. 1, 2 and 4:. t consists of a body portion or rail seat 16 having at its inner end the rail base engaging shoulder 18, this shoulder tapering oif in the face 19 to form the incline for the reception of the rail. brace shown in Fig. 5, as heretofore described, At the outer end of the plate is provided the brace engaging shoulder or lip 20. The inclined brace supporting face 19 in this instance extends throughout the \vidth of the plate and at the inner end adjacent the shoulder 18 are the spike receiving notches 21 with which the notches 15 of the brace are brought into alinement when the parts are assembled. The spike passes through both the notches l5 and 21 and its head is brought to hear on the flange 9 of the brace in the manner shown in Fig. 3. In

order to hold. the plate securely in alinement with the tie, the inner end is provided by the base of the rail, which sometimes takes place in the ordinary arrangement Where the rail is spiked directly to the tie.

l Vhile I have herein shown and described particular embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that the same maybe altered in details of construction and arrangement of parts within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A combined rail and tie plate having a rail seat, stop shoulders on either side of said seat, the outer stop shoulder being flush with the rail base and having a supporting face extending laterally therefrom, a stop shoulder at the outer extremity of said supporting face and a combined rail clamp and brace adapted to be seated on said supporting face and against the stop shoulder there of and adapted to extend over the rail base flange, and means for securing said combined clamp and brace in clamping position upon the rail and to secure said rail clamp and brace and said tie plate with the rail clamp thereby to the tie.

2. A rail and tie plate having rail base receiving seats at opposite ends thereof, stop shoulders at opposite sides of said seats respectively, the outer extremities of said tie plate having inclined bearing faces adapted to extend flush with the inclined upper faces of the rail flanges, stop shoulders at the outer extremities of said inclined faces respectively, and combined rail clamping and bracing members adapted to be supported upon said inclined faces and upon the rail flanges respectively, to clamp the rails and the tie plate and tie and to give'lateral support at the outer sides of the webs of the rails to hold the rails against outward tipping and to prevent spreading of the rails.

In testimony whereof, l, the said BER- NARD J. SAMMON, have hereunto set my hand.

BERNARD J. SAMMON. 

